Apr
22
Submitted by Jeffrey on Wed, 2009-04-22 11:04
As a birthday present in 2006, my wife gave me a subscription to the Solar Today magazine. She knew I was very interested in solar energy and renewable energy at large. I may yet start a business related to that.
I enjoyed the subscription well enough. After reading a few issues I began to feel that it was a tad amateurish, or hobbyist centered; the articles were passionate and partial to one position or another. Despite all this, I seriously considered renewing the subscription. In the end, I decided that the price was too steep for some glossy paper that I often neglected to read and a membership that didn't seem to mean anything. I also have a tendency to hold onto information, especially if its interesting and I haven't had time to digest it properly. That's a serious hording condition in today's information age!
The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) continued to email me notices of this and that. A recent one caught my eye: free online access to the Solar Today magazine, for a limited time. I went to look and decided to download all the available issues, back to June of 2008.
I'm pleased with this service, and it has made me rethink my membership in ASES. Having online access to the issues saves me from myself. And if an article is worth saving, I want it digitally! An added benefit would be the option to opt-out of the paper magazine to reduce membership costs.
We'll see. I now have a small budget for myself. Maybe I'll reconsider an ASES membership?
[See also my review of the ASES web site.]
